In 2011 I’ve started blogging with Enma.nl. Was it worth it? Yes, definetely. I’d love to share some insights and gainings which I got out of blogging for Enma.nl. And I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all returning visitors! It really sparks me joy to see that 30% of the visitors are returning to read more. It’s a huge difference compared to november 2011, back then I was happy with 150 unique visitors in a month. Here’s why I started and what I learned and gained in the past six years of blogging.

Bye to marketing

Since I can remember my goal has always been to be a business men like my father. That is why I started with a lower level marketing education at the age of 15. I knew this was what I wanted to do and I loved to learn about it. After graduation I got a job offer for data entry at Netherlands largest door-to-door flyer distributor. They quickly noticed that I wanted to achieve a marketing role and gave me the opportunity. In just three months they promoted me to segmentation specialist. Allowing me to work with big corporate customers to target their ideal customer at the age of 19.

But then nine months later I quit my dream job. 

My mother got cancer, it was uncurable and it made me realize that life can be short. I loved music, so I stopped working and started studying music. After eight months I was accepted at a music academy.

My path to becoming a professional musician

Before getting to music college a lot of professional musicians told me that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I had only played bass guitar for 2,5 years, the average bass player that is accepted plays music for 8 years. But that didn’t stop me, so I practiced and I was accepted. 

However, it then struck me that I was the worst bass player in class.

In the second year in college it turned out that the other bass players where a lot better. Next to this, if I wanted to make money in music, it would mean giving bass lessons to others. Something which I liked doing, but not for the rest of my life. At that moment I realized that a plan B wouldn’t be an luxury plan but might me necessary. 

They hated marketing

Before starting my blog I already tried to explain other musicians how they can use marketing. But most of them hated marketing. They thought marketing meant changing their music style to pop. So, I searched for a way to learn them that marketing isn’t nessecarily about changing your product, but it is about spreading your story.

At that moment in November 2011, I started a blog to inspire people around me.

How blogging helped me to become a marketeer

After music college my blog already had a great following. It made me realize that I could do the same for any company. So, I started looking for a job as a marketeer. I created a slide deck with my CV to show companies what I could do for them. And to show them that I already did it for myself. 

Gain #1: Marketing management job

In february 2014 I received a call. It was my current employer. “Hi, I saw your mail and what you’ve done and I’d like to know more about it.”. Fast forward 3,5 years and I’m experimenting with marketing on the job. In my current role I’ve helped the company to set up a marketing machine with analytics to measure results. Next to this, I try to inspire and help our partners to sell and market Workspace 365, both nationally as internationally. In short, I believe the blog helped me to get this amazing job which helps me to keep improving all my marketing skills.

Gain #2: Visiting events & conferences for free

Alot of my knowledge comes from reading and watching videos. However, I also try to get my inspiration from others. From experts within their branche or niche. And as I have a specific following (mostly marketing people and entrepeneurs) I was able to visit a lot of events for free, in exchange for a blog post. This saved me thousands of euros on event tickets and helped me to increase my knowledge and network.

Gain #3: Speaking opportunities

Next to visiting events, speaking opportunities are great for building your network. Without blogging I wouldn’t have been able to get the opportunity to speak at companies and schools. Do I get paid each time? No. Sometimes I do it as I love speaking about marketing and that I hope to inspire someone to become a expert in their field. And ofcourse, I hope they will remember me and think of me when they face a marketing challenge.

Gain #4: Free books

Another thing which I like is books on marketing and entrepeneurship. As I love to share knowledge I receive books, read them and review them. This is a great way for me to gain knowledge and by writing it down and sharing it with you, it also helps me to lock the knowledge in my brain.

Gain #5: Knowledge.

Last but not least. Writing for Enma.nl has helped me to gain a significant amount of knowledge on all fields in marketing. For each article I read for hours. And I can’t always put all the knowledge in the article, it does help me to become a better marketeer. Something which I think allows me to help others to become better marketeers as well.

Thank you for reading and feel free to connect on LinkedIn.

Some marketeers don’t like adding people on LinkedIn with whom they don’t have a personal connection. In my opinion, that’s weird. If you are working on your personal or company branding you should expand all your networks. Does this mean that I have to accept everyone? No, ofcourse not. I also decline people, usually if they are fake or if I don’t see any worth in connecting. But this is why I do add people on LinkedIn who I only spoke with once:

1. Accepting and adding strangers on LinkedIn

In sales and marketing it is common knowledge that a buyer usually needs 7 – 13 contact moments with your brand in order to move forward. In order to speed up that process, you can grow your LinkedIn network to include potential clients or people who, eventually, could introduce you to potential clients. By posting regularly they will recognize your name when you mail / call them, next to this they will see you as the expert in your brand, if you follow the next steps.

2. Share knowledge of others

Next to adding and accepting people, you should differentiate yourself and use LinkedIn’s power. By sharing usefull articles or videos within your branche, people will automatically link the knowledge you share, to you as a person. This can be very easy when you set up a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule posts.

3. React to others

By replying to posts you’ll get noticed. The algorithm of LinkedIn will see that you are an active user and will be more likely to share your post with the persons you interact with.

4. Create and share knowledge

By reading a lot on a subject, you are also able to gain the knowledge. It would be a waste to keep all this knowledge to yourself. So, I’d like to challenge you to write an article. Simply sum up what you have read in other articles and  give your opinion on the subject. By doing this people will not only see that you share knowledge, but that you are also able to reflect on others.

5. Use your skills to put people into action

After the previous steps, it’s time to put people into action. Engage with people who react on your articles. Send a direct message thanking them for their response, and try to get their phone number / Skype name / etc. to establish a call about the subject. Speaking to someone personally is the time to make a sale, don’t do it in the previous stages as people don’t trust you yet. If they see your name on a weekly base, they will feel that there is a connection with you.